Die.



G. DONALDSON.

DIE.

APPLICATION rum) MAY '2, 191a.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

GEORGE DONALDSON, 0F LEICESTER, ENG-LAND, ASSIGNOR T0 "UNITED; SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, new JERSEY.

01F PATERSON, NEW

J'EY, A COORATION OF nin- T all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE DoNALDsoN, a, subject of the King of England, residing at Leicester, Leicestershire, England, have invented certain Improvements in Dies, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the grawings indicating like parts in the several gures. p

This invention relates to cutting dies of the type employed in presses for dieing out material such as leather or blanks of sheet leather board for use in soles, heels, or other .parts of boots and shoes.

ore particularly the invention relates to cutting dies of that type in which interior blades are employed for sub-dividing or cutting the blanks fashioned by the outer portions of the die.

In using dies of this type as heretofore constructed it has been necessary before each dieing out operation to remove from the die the previously cut blank. If this is not done, and the several blanks cut out fronfthe stock are not individually removed from the die, they become wedged or jammed within the die and interfere with its subsequent eflective use. The jamming of the blanks within the die is partly the result of the expanding action of the interior blades which, on account of their increasin a thickness above the cutting edge, have ha a tendency to wedge the died-out material outwardly against the inner surface of the outer walls or that portion of the die employed for cutting the outline of the blank.

An object of the present invention is to improve dies of this general type and render them capable of being used for cutting a continuous series of blanks without the necessity of removing each blank-before the next is out... Thusthe use of the die will be rendered more eflicient through the reductionof the time required for each of its consecutive operations.

"With this object in View an important feature of the invention consists in the provi sion of a cutting die having interior blades disposed with their cutting edges above or within the plane of the cutting edges of the exterior blades. In using such a die the outline of the blank will be out before the blank is operated upon by the cutting edges of the interior blades. Subsequently, when the die specification of Letters ratent. Application filed may 7, 191a.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.. Serial No. reams.

is used for cutting the succeeding blanks from the sheet material, the blank already cut will be forced by the newly cut blanks upon the interior blades by which it will be subdivided or otherwise cut in a configuration determined by the arrangement of the inner blades.

The distance of the cutting edges of the interior blades from the plane of the cutting edges of the exterior blades may be such that the successive operations of cutting the outline of a blank will cause the immediately preceding blank to be acted upon by the interior blades, or it may be so arranged that several blanks are cut to outline before a blank is operated upon by the interior blades. 0 a I As herein shown the inner surface of the exterior blades isarranged to diverge outwardly from or near the plane of the cutting edge sothat the blanks, as they are cut and passed upwardly through the die by the subsequent operations, will move freely and suficient clearance will be afi'orded for the expansion of the blanks caused by the action of the interior blades. It has been found advantageous in some cases to arrange the surface of the interior blades also to di. verge similarly to the surface rior blades, or to a lesser extent, so that as the blanks are out by the interior blades the portions inclosed by them will not be restrained from free movement upwardly within the die. Theseand other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the ac companying drawings in which;

'F'gure 1 is a view in perspective of an inverted die for cutting interlocking heel lifts and Fi 2 is a vertical section through the center 0 the die. e

The blanks to be cut by the die herein shown are in the form of two Us, inverted inrelation to one another, with one arm of each U-shap'ed blank disposed in the space. between the arms of the other. Such blanks as these are used in the manufacture of pieced heels and similar blanks aresometimes used for making rands.

As shown in Fig. 1 the die has external blades 2 with a cutting edge 4 correspond "ing in outline with the contour of the interof the site .i

lllld locked li-shaped blanks and having its inner surface diverging outwardly from its cut-- ting edge.

vided w th a heavy strengthening rib adjacent to its cuttin edge, although this feature is immateria to the present invention. The die is provided with interior blades 8 and 12 which, as herein shown, may be 'formed of a singlebar or plate shaped to cut the intersecting lines of the two U- shaped blanks.

The interior blades are made integral with or-otherwise rigidly secured'within the external blades 2 and have their cutting edges 10 disposed in a plane above the plane of the cutting edge 4: of the exterior blades. The center member 12 of the interior blades is vertical, that is, at right angles to the plane of the cutting edge, while the other portions 8 have their inner surfaces divergingfn the same direction but to a lesser extent t an the inner surfaces of the exterior blades. This allows for the increasing thickness of the central vertical portion 12 above its cutting edge. The upper edge of the outer portion of the die is thickened in a rib 3 to provide an extended pressure receiving surface and this edge and also the pressure receiving edges of the interior blades are ground to lie in a single plane so that the cutting pressure will be receivedevenly and 'transnntted uaiiformly to every point oi? the cutting e ge's.

By the use of a die like that herein described, a continuous series of interlocking Y heel blanks can be out without removal from the die, each blank being preliminaril cut to its external configuration and then w en the die for-ms the succeeding blanks, being cut into-its two sub-divisions'by the interior blades.

While the interior blades herein shown extend from one side of the "die to the other and so actually produce two separate blanks, it is within the sec e of the invention to employ interior 'bla es which operate to, out only slits within the body of a previously severed blank or to perform some other secondary operation thereon.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States y l. A die for operating on sheet material, havin an exterior blade with a cuttin edge shape to form the outline of a bl'a ,and

The die herein shown is pro-.

an interior blade for performing a secondaryoperation on a previously severed blank having its cutting edge disposed in a plane above the plane of the cutting edge of the exterior blade.

2. A die for cutting sheet material, having an exterior blade with a cutting edge shaped to form theoutline of a blank, the sides of said blade diverging above the cutting edge, and an interior blade disposed with its cuttin edge above the plane of the cutting edge 0% the exterior blade.

3. A die for cutting sheet material, having an interior blade disposed at right angles to the cutting edge of the die, and sup-,

plementary cutting blades which diverge above their cutting edges from said interior blade.

4:. A die for operating on sheet material, having an exterior portion sharpened to form the outline of the blank, and an interior blade extending continuously from one side of the die to the other and having a cutting edge disposed above the cutting edge of the exterior portion.

5. A die for cutting interlocked U-shaped blanks, having an outer portion sharpened -to form the outline of the combined blanks,

and an interior blade having its cutting blade disposed in a plane above the edge of the outer portions and shaped to cut the interior lines of the interlocked blanks.

'6. A die having a continuous outer cutting edge for forming the outline of a blank, :1 central blade disposed at right angles to the plane of said cutting edge,and similar connecting blades extending between the ends of the central blade an the outer cutting portion of the die and divergin above their cutting edge from said central lade.

7. A die having a continuous outer portion with a cutting edge located in a single plane, and an interior portion with a cutting edge located above said lane, whereby a blank severed at one time y the outer portion maybe subsequently operated upon by the interior portion.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE DONALDSON.

Witheses:

'Fnnnniuox WILLIAM Won'rn, KATHERINE Pnx'roN. 

